


Rebirth From Stone

by Tsubasa504



Series: Stone world [2]
Category: Dr. STONE (Anime), Dr. STONE (Manga)
Genre: Character Death, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Tsukasa just wants a friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:07:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24985816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tsubasa504/pseuds/Tsubasa504
Summary: Tsukasa learns young to fear adults because they shackle what they can't control. And all Tsukasa wants now is freedom, if Senku could have only understood that.
Series: Stone world [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1808605
Comments: 1
Kudos: 24





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Technically this is the 4th chapter to 3700 years in the waiting, but I felt it ended up being a little too dark for that story so it gets to sit here by itself.

Tsukasa learns early on the heavy hand of an adult. The accompanying pain was always brief. It stung and burnt, but was never lasting. When he had been younger it had been scarier. Sometimes he thought he was going to die. The pain was light, but there was something there. A light in the adult's eyes that said they wanted more. Wanted to do more and hurt more and Tsukasa learned to fear that.

His mother was kind but distant and there was no one to protect him and he knew that was his own job, so Tsukasa grows stronger and learns to take the hit. He learns that it went faster if he let it happen and he learns that adults usually became satisfied afterwards.

Adults are short-tempered and prone to violence. His view of the world might be skewed but he _knows_ this one important fact.

When he turns sixteen, he's taller than most men and it teaches him that they fear growth, but it is also something they can't stop, so Tsukasa enjoys each day he grows taller. He can't fight back with his hands and he can't fight back with his words, but his growth, that, that they can't stop and one day he'll be too tall for them to dare to hit.

Fighting isn't something he learns. Hits are ingrained in his body and it's just natural to throw a punch when people tell him to. He is good at MMA, not because he learned or practiced but because adults are scary and Tsukasa learned young to watch the hand that feeds him. He learns he has to enjoy it and so he grins wide and punches hard. If he wins the hits lessen if he loses…

Tsukasa learns to hate adults and one day he'll be an adult that other adult's will fear. In his mind, he's the weak man's champion and the world should be pleased that his heart is so pure. He hates the stifling societal rules because it doesn't matter if a man like him reads and learns because hits won't stop and people will still suspect him of violence. He's tall and he's strong and, of course, he must be violent. People scuff when talking about his fears as if he has none.

They don't get that adults are scary and society makes them right and Tsukasa has no right to disapprove. In their eyes he is all brawns and no brains and people don't want him to talk.

There are adult laws and child laws and somehow Tsukasa is not part of either. In the eyes of the law Tsukasa learns that he is a delinquent if he's not a pro-fighter, so it's better not to say or do anything. They want him to be violent on their terms and they fear he'll be violent if he's not winning gold medals for money. The laws not on his side and society really doesn't care.

He's scary and he's strong and they figure it's better to keep him caged then on the streets.

His mother is kind but she's not blind and Tsukasa still doesn't know why she remains silent. He figures if she thinks it's okay, then Tsukasa will just have to learn to take any hit.

At eighteen he is mostly an adult and people have learned to keep their distance. Funny enough, the day his mother dies is the day the hits stop coming and sometimes Tsukasa wonders about that.

Then the world is no more.

For a long time he remains in the stone blackness. The locker room is gone and his coach is gone and it's _peaceful_.

—V—V—

Darkness is not scary and Tsukasa is calm for the first time in a long time. Life is not life but it is something and this is 100 percent better than anything previously. Here in the darkness there is no MMA and there are no rules and laws and no people who want to cage him.

But darkness grows duel and Tsukasa wants purpose.

The darkness and the silence has taught him a lot. Above all, he knows he won't bend to the will of the adult. Not again. Those shackles have been removed and darkness has taught him freedom and there is no return from this.

Tsukasa learns in the darkness that he would rather end up dead than shackled. He'd rather be the fearful animal than bend to those weaker, who make rules to protect themselves and make rules that oppress the strong.

It's ten years of oppression and ten years of pain. People who tell him how to walk and how to talk and who to fight and how to fight. It is ten years too many.

Darkness is freedom and it's rebirth and when he gets out of here there will be no more shackles and no more cages.

It is a long time waiting and thinking and wondering. He's a cold statue waiting for rebirth.

—V—V—

From slumber he rushes back. He blinks awake and it's dark, but there is sound and Tsukasa knows there soon will be light. It's a long time coming.

He is pleased and ready and even in the darkness he flexes his muscles. There will be no more shackles no matter what the new world will hold.

Young frightened voice brushes against his hearing and it's not adults and the frightful coil that had tightened in his stomach loosens.

"Sorry for waking you after thousands of years into a situation you know nothing about." A young man dressed rough meets his eye. There is pleading and need there and Tsukasa understands.

"What's the situation?"

"Your entire body is surrounded by some kind of stone and we are surrounded by a pack of lions from 9 to 2 o'clock." The voice is brisk, sure, and there is no time to doubt.

Everything is like a dream because there are lions here and someone wants him to fight them—but it's not an adult's—and Tsukasa's excited. Years of darkness. Of boring monotone life of just his thoughts and his dreams, and now, there is purpose and violence and Tsukasa has learned young to relish in that.

His muscles flex in the newfound freedom and _nothing_ could have felt better. It's his first kill but the kids behind him don't look overly surprised about the death—just his strength. The world is new and there are no adults, just the three of them, and Tsukasa thinks he can fit right on in.

—V—V—

He is surprised to learn that Senku is not just smart. He's something else. Something dangerous. He's the kind of person who makes rules and laws to help the weak and cage the strong and the tight coil that had loosened in his stomach is back. It's hot and hard and Tsukasa feels uncertain.

The world is peaceful and it's only them, but Senku wants more. He is bright and confident, and his eyes don't hide from Tsukasa's. The boy means what he says and he's only sixteen. When Tsukasa was sixteen there were shackles on him and adults who told him what should and shouldn't be, and Senku's so _confident_. Differences like these are difficult to overcome, but Tsukasa likes his new life and he owes it all to Senku. He likes this new world and all he's been given, even if he was revived for his strength.

"And the adults?" he questions.

Senku's giving him a look like he thinks he's off his rocket, and that it's not the other way around. "I'll bring back all seven billion people. It's a 10 billion chance it'll take all my life but I'll do it."

He smiles and he's young, and Tsukasa hates that their dreams don't fit.

"They won't understand," he tries. "They will want monotone, boring life back. Where it's work 12 hours a day and no one's doing what they want and everyone is trying to please the upper guy."

Senku just shrugs and he doesn't look bothered. "That's human nature."

Tsukasa doesn't agree because fishing and hunting and feeling the soft sometimes hard ground under his feet, that is human nature. The forest is alive and with it Tsukasa's heart is alive. It's not safe and there is no schedule planned by an adult who thinks he knows better, and with that, life feels precious. He wants to protect life. He wants to protect those who won't grow up to make life a routine hell.

Senku is small and weak and he should be protected, but his mind is strong and his will is stronger and Tsukasa feels defeated.

His heart is beating fast and hard in his chest because freedom is on the line and Senku is his friend.

For all he never talked, Tsukasa is not dumb. He realizes Senku hides things. Says only a few words and hides the rest. Senku's dream to rebuild is not just talk because Senku knows _things_.

Learning about revival fluid feels important because if he lets Senku continue handling that then Tsukasa might not be important any longer and then he'll be caged by scientific weapons, of that he's sure. Senku doesn't look dangerous but neither does most adults.

Senku is his first friend but Tsukasa can't help but fear getting closer. He wonders that if they were real friends would Senku understand his fear better? Would he be willing to give up his ridiculously complex plan to rebuild that which has no need to exist? Would he be willing to allow Tsukasa to protect him and not ask for so much more? In this stone world Tsukasa is king. Here he can protect and manage and not worry. But in the scientific world where brains beat brawns and where guns beat fists, Tsukasa's nothing but a caged animal.

If Senku just understood. If he just listened and wasn't so determined, then they could be friends and Tsukasa wouldn't be standing here in Hakone. Senku shouldn't have to look so afraid. Tsukasa wants to protect the weak, but Senku refuses to be weak. If this was 3700 years ago maybe they could be friends because then Tsukasa was shackled and wasn't so worried about scientific weapons he could do nothing about. Now, it's all new and there is a future here that Tsukasa can live free in.

It's a future that should include Senku but can't.

His heart breaks when he steps forward. He's shattered and cold and he's barely thinking when he raises his hand to strike.

Senku could be a friend and for that it's quick. Frail bodies like this break easily and the resonating snap of a vertebrate is disgusting and telling and Tsukasa just wants to be free.


	2. Chapter 2

In the mountains there are caves. They are shallow but plenty and Tsukasa sets up his base there. It is close enough to the revival fluid that no one will get to it without his knowing. It is also far enough away from Senku's original camp that Tsukasa doesn't have to worry about his new comrades stumbling upon it easily. He is not sure why he is so against that. It shouldn't be a problem, but it is.

Tsukasa didn't spend long with Senku but the time he did spend with him is...memorable. It's something different and for some reason he has an urge to protect that.

Senku might be gone but there are traces of him everywhere in this forest. For all Tsukasa is not an animal and can't smell Senku he can still feel him. A small little presence unseeing but there. Maybe it should be scary. Maybe it should be haunting. It's neither. And Tsukasa relishes in finding traces of the smaller man that linger. Footsteps that have been pressed deep enough in mud to remain; small contraptions here and there that he used to gather fruits or berries, and sometimes to hunt. Sometimes Tsukasa finds scratches and markings in the bark of the trees and though he doesn't know what it was for he trails his fingers gently over the ridges and revels in the moment.

Senku is gone but he is not.

—V—V—

When Taiju and Yuzuriha return he follows them with curious eyes. They slouch their shoulders and look meek, but there is fire in their eyes, and Tsukasa doesn't doubt for one moment that they have an ulterior motive in returning. He says nothing and lets them be.

At least they set up Senku's grave far from the original treehut.

"Watch them," he says to the overly muscular man standing a few paces behind him.

The man grunts but doesn't take a step to follow his orders. "Why?"

Grinding his teeth, Tsukasa looks out over the forest and refrains from acting on the violence coursing within him. "Make sure they don't leave." The glare he sends the man sends him scurrying away, and Tsukasa regrets his choice in men. The next ones need to have more brains.

Weeks pass and the stifling heat of summer is upon them. Taiju and Yuzuriha have made no moves against him and Tsukasa stops watching them. It has been weeks without Senku and his empire has grown. The caves are filling and the lingering traces of Senku are gone. Now the forest is not quite as welcoming and Tsukasa grunts at that.

"Tsukasa-kun," Hyoga begins. "You seem impatient. Is there something bothering you?"

The two of them aren't friends. Tsukasa doesn't doubt the fact that Hyoga would jump on the opportunity to strike him down should he let his guard down. There is something cold in the other man's eyes. They are similar in that sense, but Tsukasa doesn't wish for senseless death or senseless violence. Killing Senku was enough. It taught him enough. It's a quiet burden he has no interest in carrying. He killed and got away with it, and it all feels rotten in his mouth.

"What do you think of the rumors?" he wonders.

"The rumors?" Hyoga says and looks contemplating down at the ground. "Regarding the grave?"

"Yes."

Hyoga humms. "Some say he died of a curse. That's funny. We are all Japanese and, though we have our superstitions we are all smarter than that. Yet in this stone world it's like we've forgotten that magic doesn't exist and it certainly doesn't strike you down."

"And?" Tsukasa wonders where he is going with this. It's not news, and he has no interest in repetitive conversations.

"And I don't think he died of a curse. We've all been to the grave," Hyoga says and looks out curious towards the direction of the ocean. "All of us except you, Tsukasa-kun."

Tsukasa blinks slowly and leans his chin into his fist.

"You tell us not to kill. It's one of the few rules you've laid out and I can't help but wonder what made you, a Japanese man, come up with it. Did you think all Japanese people are violent, or is it so, because you were violent?" A hard glint is in Hyoga's eyes and he meets Tsukasa's own head on. Challenging. Knowing.

"What are you trying to say?" Tsukasa meets the challenge with his own. He wants to hear the words. He wants to hear the verdict and the judgment and he's not looking to be free of his crime but he does wonder what people will think.

"I think you killed him, Tsukasa-kun." The words are almost light. Hyoga doesn't look bothered and there is nothing to settle in Tsukasa's chest.

"And if I did?"

Even through the high collar the man wears, Tsukasa can make out the razor sharp grin. "Then I would like to ask: did you enjoy it?"

Tsukasa is up off his seat before he can think. His fist strikes into Hyoga's spear, he turns and kicks hard into unprotected shins and watches as the man goes down. With a quick swipe he throws the spear off to the side and follows Hyoga down. His knee pressing into the delicate flesh of a throat.

Even downed and defeated as he is, Hyoga laughs at him. Pressing rough hands against Tsukasa's knee and glaring satisfyingly up at him. "Did I hit a nerve?"

"You're playing a dangerous game, Hyoga. What do you wish to accomplish from that?"

"You're the one who asked me what I thought of the rumors. And I think they're bullshit," the man spits out. "Don't tell me our cold-hearted leader actually has a heart. Awww, does it hurt to be reminded of the man you killed through wild rumors? Or is it that you enjoy it?"

Tsukasa presses the man down harder. "I don't take pleasure in killing."

Hyoga laughs at him, hard and loud, and coughs a little when he can't get the breath he needs. "Sure you do. We're the same, you and I."

Tsukasa feels his glare turn acidic. "You and I, the same?" The words come out a harsh drawl. "You're just a little parasite biding its time."

"And yet I'm your second in command," Hyoga shoots back.

"Just keeping an eye on you."

The downed man sneers. "So I won't go kill someone the way you did?"

"The difference between you and me, Hyoga," Tsukasa beings, "is that I know when to stop." He pushes up and off the other man and picks up the spear again, inspecting it. "Don't be so predictable, Hyoga. You won't last long then."

With a last twirl of the spear he twists and throws it with all his might at Hyoga. The man has hardly had time to find his feet under him again but he catches it nonetheless. Tsukasa is mildly impressed. Though, there is equal parts irritation surging through him.

Indeed, Hyoga is dangerous, but he makes a good second-in-command and for that Tsukasa has to give him credit.

"One day, Tsukasa-kun, you won't be the one coming out on top," Hyoga calls after him, and Tsukasa can't help the thrill that sweeps through him. He doesn't think he'll lose but the idea of an evenly matched fight, now that, that is exciting. It's enough to get his heart pumping and his ears ringing and there is blood lust in the air.

—V—V—

Asagiri Gen is a sleazy man. Tsukasa almost throws him off a cliff his very first day after revival. The magician has a way of seeing things and finding the right words to hit at whatever it is he sees. The mind games grow dull rather quickly and Tsukasa thinks about what he can do to get rid of the little pest that is running around causing such havoc in his kingdom.

His thinking of Senku, and it's certainly not the first time. He can't help but wonder if the man is still out there. If he cheated death. The resounding crack of the smaller man's vertebrate follows him in his dream and he hardly thinks he could have survived.

When Asagiri Gen asks him about the date on a tree, he somehow starts doubting his strike. If it is Gen who fills him with doubt or if it had been there from the beginning, is hard to tell. Either way, he just found a way to send the annoying mind manipulator away.

"I want you to follow me?" he says and goes towards the forest.

The magician takes a long time to follow. His footsteps are harsh and uneven where they tred behind him and it's clear jungle life is not his calling.

Senku's hut is the same as always. The one part Tsukasa has guarded loyally together with Taiju and Yuzuriha who he has a silent pact with on this matter. "His name was Senku," he says, fingers itching to trail along the wooden structure. To marvel at the precision of the smaller man's making. "He's the one whose grave most speak about and also the one who wrote the date."

"How did he know?" There is awe in the man's voice.

Tsukasa can agree to the amazement because he felt the same. "He counted."

"He counted for 3719 years."

"Yes, and I want you to make sure he is not alive."

Asagiri Gen turns to him with narrowed inspecting eyes. "Hmmm. The people who talk about his grave say he died of a curse. Tsukasa-chan, would you happen to be that curse?"

Tsukasa doesn't answer. He's tired of mind games. He's tired of constantly wondering if there is a wandering ghost somewhere out there. "Just find him if he's alive and report back to me."

"Will you kill him again?" Gen wonders.

It's a question he has asked himself as well. The "yes" chokes in his throat and he doesn't vocalize his intentions because in the end, his hands want to trail lovingly over wooden work and clay pottery and his eyes still search for traces of contraptions in the forest.


End file.
